Second Chance
by unicornhime
Summary: ONESHOT Inuyasha has been trapped in the past and Kagome in the future for five long years. Unexpectedly, they finally reunite...is it what they expected?


_AN: No, I haven't given up on Coed, this is a just a little one-shot to get my mind working again. I was having a crappy week and need fluff with a little angst on the side. Coed isn't ready for this level of fluff/angst yet. And I still don't own Inuyasha, etc. I hope you enjoy!_

Inuyasha blinked several times as he tried to gather his thoughts. The last memory that came to mind was that of a bright light, falling, and a sudden, abrupt landing. He looked around to establish his bearings.

Wall. Wall. Wall. Wall. Closely surrounded by four dirt walls. Almost like…but it couldn't be…

He turned to his fine instincts, listening and sniffing his environment. It was unfamiliar and strange, and yet, in the back of his mind, a distant memory begged to be recalled. A memory that he had buried away in an attempt to hide from its perverse torment.

He looked up, but did not see the sky, as he expected. He was in a dim enclosure of some kind, but he was not trapped. Bunching his powerful leg muscles, he leapt out of his narrow dirt prison, his long, silver hair streaming behind him…into a shrine.

_The _shrine…._her_ shrine….

The place he hadn't laid eyes on in five long years.

ooo

**Second Chance**

_unicornhime_

ooo

"This isn't happening…this _can't _be happening," Inuyasha whispered to himself, afraid that if he spoke to loudly, he'd wake up from this dream (for it was most certainly some kind of dream). But he was indeed in the Shrine of the Bone-Eaters Well. In _her_ time.

Pressing one sensitive ear to the door and judging the coast to be clear, he carefully nudged the shrine door open. No mistaking it now. He wanted to run, shouting her name, demanding that she answer his questions: why did the well close up, how did the end really end, where did she go…

But most importantly: why didn't she come back?

And yet he didn't break down the doors, didn't yell or swear or make a scene; he had learned caution. These past five years had subdued him somewhat.

Instead, he crept to the sunny yellow house and peeked through a window. At first, he didn't see anything of note. The furniture had been rearranged or replaced – big deal. That fat cat was lounging in a beam of sunlight, still very fat, and now very old-looking. With nothing to draw his attention on the ground floor, he quickly scaled the large tree on the side of the house, as he did so often, so many years ago.

With bated breath, he peered through the window –

The room was completely bare, save a few boxes.

He was stunned. He simply stared for a full five minutes, uncomprehending.

_Why isn't she here? Where's her stuff? That stupid cat is still here, why isn't she? Did something happen to her? _and other such thoughts ran through the poor boy's frantic mind. Shoving caution aside with the window pane, he landed deftly on the tatami matted floor and searched for her scent. _There! It's still here, not fresh, but here. She made it back safely. _

She made it back safely: that one worry that had haunted him like he hadn't thought possible. He had no way of knowing, you see. That final battle had cost him dearly. In the end, he really had no clear idea of what happened; Naraku just simply became no more. And Kagome disappeared, never to be seen again. Everything vanished in a blindingly bright light that seemed to last for eternity. Once the light had cleared, Inuyasha's wounds were healed. Miroku's Kazaana vanished with his wounds. Sango was as healthy as she'd ever been. Same for Shippou and Kirara.

But there was no trace of the Shikon Jewel…or of Kagome. Inuyasha didn't care about the jewel anymore, but her… Even her backpack, her bike…

Even the necklace. That was perhaps one of the painful parts of the mystery. It seemed that everything that had to do with Higurashi Kagome had simply been erased. The subduing beads – his one link to her – were yanked from his grasp, and he couldn't even put up a fight.

There was a time for grief, of course. But after a time, Sango and Miroku moved on, returning to the life of the road, traveling from village to village, fighting demons. After a couple years, they finally settled down back in Kaede's village. Sango was expecting twins, in addition to the two small boys and one daughter they already had, last Inuyasha heard.

Shippou took the blow very hard; it was like losing his mother all over again. But he had matured and learned to fight his own personal demons. He stayed near Kaede, helping her tend to the village in exchange for her care. He was still a child at heart.

But Inuyasha, he had suffered the most. To have everything just stolen away in the blink of an eye, unable to protect her like he promised…it just shattered his heart. The heart he didn't even have before she came along. He returned to the well. He tried everything to pass through it, to no avail. He waited by it for months. For a full year he never ventured further than his ears could hear.

For a year after that, he still never wandered too far, always returning every week, just in case.

But after two years, it seemed like all hope had died. He haunted the roads, wandering, with no destination and no purpose. He still returned once every year, on the anniversary of that fateful day. He didn't know the reason, exactly, but he was just drawn to that spot on that day. And his hope would spark, only to be completely extinguished as the night fell and the feeling faded.

He didn't know what was different about this occasion. All he knew was that it had been five long, lonely years. Five years, and all he got was a room of boxes and a faded scent.

He sank to the floor, lost in his thoughts, when the door suddenly swung opened. Inuyasha's head whipped up in anticipation, only to have his golden eyes land on a boy. A boy that looked to be almost the age Kagome was when she first fell through the well.

The boy's own dark eyes widened in surprise and amazement, "Inu-no-niichan!"

Her _brother_! There was still some hope left in this world. He _had_ to know where she was.

Shooting up as though he'd been scalded, Inuyasha rushed to grab the boy's shoulders. Shaking them somewhat roughly, he rasped, "Where is she?"

Souta knew exactly who he meant and recovered remarkably quickly from the shock of seeing the hanyou boy again. "She moved out a few months ago. She lives in an apartment now. Going to school and stuff…" he trailed off as he saw the relief that shone from Inuyasha's unguarded face and realized the seriousness of Inuyasha's presence. "She's in the Elms Apartments, over in the 4th district. Building B. Number 38."

Inuyasha wanted nothing more than to tear out of that house and find Kagome. But the address meant nothing to him – it was just names and numbers. "Show me," he all but commanded.

"I can take you to the building, but that's it. I have club, and I'm cutting it close as it is." Souta knew how important this was, and would have gladly skipped club altogether, but he had a feeling Inuyasha and his sister would need to be alone.

After the quick thinking Souta slapped that reliable old baseball cap on Inuyasha's head, the two boys quickly boarded a bus headed towards their destination. Inuyasha's nerves were raw as the bus crept on. Finally, and yet all too suddenly, he was in front of her building. And then in front of Number 38.

The hat and door muffled any sound. He had to do this right. So he knocked. And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After what felt like hours, Kagome opened the door with a distracted smile on her face, looking to her right before facing forward.

"_Kagome,_" Inuyasha breathed her name in amazement, his heart pounding. She was finally there, in front of him, in flesh in blood, happy and beautiful and alive and _real._

The smile was wiped away, replaced by complete and utter shock. "_Inuyasha?_" She whispered, unbelieving. She didn't move. She could barely breathe. She just stared at him in awe.

He removed the baseball cap to show that he was indeed Inuyasha, and not some remarkable look-a-like. Her hands flew to her mouth as she gasped, eyes wide, unable to believe this mirage.

Then the spell was broken.

"Who is it?"

Inuyasha snapped out of the trance Kagome put him in to seek out the owner of that masculine voice. A young man with short brown hair came into view. When he saw Kagome's apparent distress, he came forward to place his left hand on her should as he stood behind her, "Are you alright?" Kagome silently stood, unmoving. He turned his attention to Inuyasha, his eyes accusing, "Who are you?"

But Inuyasha could only stare at that boy's hand. More specifically, the fourth finger on the boys hand…and the gold band around it. He had heard stories about gold bands around fourth fingers.

"No…you…" he whispered in denial, "You…you're…." _Five years…after five years…_

But at that moment, the young woman flung herself from that boy's grasp and threw her arms around Inuyasha's neck and broad shoulders, hugging him tightly. "You came back..." he heard her whisper, and he tightened his grip around her slim waist, never wanting to let go. That annoying thing in the background disappeared – it was just the two of them, lost in their embrace. And then Kagome pulled back slightly to gaze into his golden eyes. Gold met brown for an eternity and for a split second before Inuyasha did the thing he never dreamt he'd be able to do.

One of his arms came from around her waist to cradle her head before crashing his lips into hers.

And everything felt perfect.

He couldn't remember a time he felt greater happiness or joy than when he felt her push back, tightening their embrace, and deepening the kiss as though she couldn't get close enough or express her emotion in any way known to her. He forgot everything but her, never wanting to let go. He wanted to feel the fire in his blood forever, feel the softness of her skin, the desperate fierceness of her longing, everything in this moment for all of time.

But, of course, it was not meant to last.

"That's quite the show you're putting on, Kagome-chan."

A_ feminine_ voice?

Kagome jumped in surprise, but did not relinquish her hold of Inuyasha, as though she was afraid he might disappear. He was not about to let go of her, either. She craned her head to look at the interruption, a far too innocent look on her face. "Ayumi-chan!"

Inuyasha crashed back down to Earth as the offending boy from before reentered his vision. Inuyasha's eyes darted between _him_ and the new female before looking down at Kagome's startled face. _That ring…_

"I think some introductions are in order, Higurashi-san. I didn't know you were dating anyone! Finally!" _Higurashi-san?_ He hoped against hope…

Kagome blushed and took on the guilty expression she should have been sporting all along. Inuyasha loosened his hold slightly, so Kagome could turn around. "Well, this is Inuyasha," she said, nodding slightly in his direction. "Inuyasha, this is Ayumi-chan, I think you met her once, a long time ago. And Houjo-kun, her husband. Friends of mine."

"Oooh, is he that violent, two-timing boyfriend that you made out to be so bad to convince yourself that you weren't in love? After you said you couldn't see him anymore, you were a completely different person. You didn't date anyone, really. Is he really _that one_?" Ayumi bluntly asked. Kagome only blushed a deeper pink in response and Inuyasha couldn't take his eyes off the girl in his arms. Not too difficult a task, as they were still in very close proximity.

But once Kagome had disappeared, Inuyasha did begin to have his doubts. She did vanish after the jewel was completed and Naraku vanquished…did she really only stay with him out of duty? It was one of those nagging doubts that had planted itself deep in his heart and grown dangerous during her absence. To hear her friend's words, he was both stunned and relieved and overjoyed, all at once. Stunned to learn that he had such an impact on her. Relieved to know that his doubts where unfounded. And overjoyed to discover that she really did love him.

"Well, I think we've done enough damage here," Ayumi responded to Kagome's suddenly shy silence. "We'll let ourselves out, then. Call me later?" Kagome mutely nodded and the pair moved aside to let the married couple leave.

Now they really were alone, no longer standing in the doorway, Kagome still wrapped in Inuyasha's strong arms.

"You loved me? Even still….even though…"he whispered huskily, before trailing off, his breath warm in her ear.

Unshed tears shone in her eyes. "Of course…of course I did, you big idiot. I always loved you." She turned to completely face him again. "But you…you didn't come for me. And I couldn't come for you."

"I tried! You have no idea how hard I tried. It was killing me!" The harshness of the Inuyasha that Kagome knew so well for so long returned for an instant with a fierceness that startled her. "I don't even know what finally did it." His eyes shifted and regarded her with such softness and tenderness… "But you know what? I don't even care how or why or anything anymore," he leaned in closer so that their noses touched, his lips only centimeters from her smiling ones, "Because I'm here now. And I love you."

And he closed the gap.

ooo

_AN: So how was it? Too fluffy? Too OOC? The ending wasn't quite how I pictured it at first. There was gonna be a huge fight and much angsting and misunderstanding, but I just wasn't up to it. Maybe I'll do an alternate ending. Someday. Also, I was writing this in the wee hours of the morning because I couldn't sleep. That wouldn't be so bad, but I have to work at 6:30am. I got this idea from the ending of Hitch…very vague connection, but I thought it would be a nice spin. And I love that movie. And I'll stop rambling now. _

_Please REVIEW!_

_Thank you for reading!_


End file.
